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Sunday, 26 April 2009

Hello, lovely people! How has your weekend been? Have you got anything exciting planned for the week ahead?

I did manage to get out and enjoy the sunshine, and even to frolic with friends around London town. However, I did also manage to make a few new bits. What do you think of these?

Looking at these photos again, I can't help but think, "Frankie, turn off The Tudors!" However, I quite like this necklace. It's made from a vintage compact, hung on vintage chains and adorned with a line of freshwater pearls. The compact is still intact and comes with the original puff! It has that amazing powder smell too...if only this blog had a "scratch'n'sniff" facility.

People seemed to really like the cuff I posted last week, so I thought I'd have a go at making another (Cuff II - Antique Boogaloo). This cuff is made from an antique drawer pull, linked on vintage chain and adorned with a vintage faux pearl. The drawer pulls came as a pair, so I can even make another if you all like this one! Lovely.

I've been wanting to do something with this vintage brooch for a while now, and today it finally felt right to use it for a bracelet. I like it because it reminds me of grapes. I mean, everyone loves grapes...don't they?

So, as usual, I would love your feedback on these, please! I find it really helpful, and all of your support means a lot to me.

Speaking of lovely support, the wonderful Clandestine Chick (aka Sheena) of Observations and Musings was kind enough to feature some of my jewellery on her blog. It's a really great post, although I can't help but feel like a total fraud - the other jewellery she has included is so much nicer than mine! Click here to have a read.

Also, I just want to take this opportunity to mention another person who is far more talented than me. The lovely and brilliant Sian of Siansburys specialises in sock monkeys (among many other things), and I recently asked her to make me a Poirot one (if it's not The Tudors, it's Poirot - I need to get out more). Don't get me wrong - I knew that Sian was talented, and I knew she made amazing monkeys, but I was TOTALLY blown away when Poirot arrived. Sian's attention to detail, both on the monkey itself and the packaging he arrived in, was just perfect, and he is so well made. I am now in love, and can't wait for him to take pride of place in my new flat. Here he is with just some of my Poirot-related merchandise:

Sunday, 19 April 2009

...and how was your weekend, my lovely friend? What did you get up to? I've been surprisingly productive, and managed to get a fair bit done.

For example, I finally got round to sewing pin backs onto the corsages I made ages ago:

I'm really pleased with how these have come out, but what do you think? If people like them, I'll definitely look into making more with a variety of vintage fabrics and brooches. I've just ordered myself a little sewing machine, so I can't wait to have a play and expand Swell Vintage into more than just jewellery.

I also made a few new pieces. As always, your feedback will be welcomed and appreciated:

My dear Mother commented, "That's very Anne Boleyn!" when she saw it - perhaps I'm watching too much of "The Tudors" these days? Anyway, this necklace is made from a vintage locket, adorned with a vintage pendant I found in a charity shop and is hung on vintage chain and faux pearl. I've put some of my cheeky floral inside the locket, but that can be removed and replaced with personal photos, or even Henry VIII portraits!

This cuff is made from an antique drawer pull that I have molded to fit around the wrist. It's linked with vintage chain, and adorned with a single vintage faux pearl. It's definitely a striking piece, but it's also comfortable to wear. Not to mention durable!

This necklace is made from vintage chains and vintage faux pearl. I'm really in love with the vintage weave chain that makes up the shorter part of the necklace (is it weird to be in love with chain?!), and I like playing with different textures within pieces. It's one of my more simple pieces, but I quite like it. What do you think?

I think that's enough for now, so I shall stop prattling on. I hope you've had a lovely weekend, and that the week ahead is even better!

Wednesday, 15 April 2009

I normally only blog at the weekend, but this week has been a good one - and it's all thanks to a couple of very wonderful and talented bloggers.

First of all, the incredibly adorable Emily of Deranged, My Love was kind enough to write about me and my jewellery things in her blog. It was such a pleasant surprise! Emily's blog is chock full of gorgeous fashion and entertaining observations, so I highly recommend adding it to your blog roll. Oh, and she's incredibly lovely! You can read her post right here.

Then today the beautiful and ever so lovely Alix Rose posted an interview with me on her blog! My whole Alix Rose experience has been a real honour and a privilege for me, because not only were the questions interesting and fun to answer, but Alix is also someone who I greatly admire. I always enjoy reading her blog, and look forward to hearing her perspective on current trends. She is also one of the nicest people in the blogosphere! You can read the interview here.

I don't mean to gush, but I just wanted to thank Emily, Alix and YOU, my dear friends. When I first decided to start making jewellery and blogging about it, I was terrified. I was worried that:

a. No one would read it

or, even worse,

b. People would read it, but wouldn't like it. Or that they wouldn't like my jewellery.

But everyone has been so incredibly kind and supportive. And I am so grateful. So, thank you for taking the time to read this. It really means a lot to me.

I hope your week is going well. And if it's not, at least it's almost the weekend!

Monday, 13 April 2009

Hello once again, my loves! Did you have a good Easter time? Did you eat your body weight in chocolate? I certainly hope so.

I've had such a nice and relaxing long weekend, but I probably should have used my time more productively as things are getting increasingly busy. I'm still working on pieces for the Handm@de Fair in Winchester on 5th July, and I'm also starting on my next collection for Trinket in Edinburgh. Not only that, but I'm moving to East London in about 6 weeks - needless to say, there's plenty to do!

However, I did manage to make a couple of things. This necklace, for example:

I really like this vintage perfume bottle. I've cleaned it up, replaced the flimsy chain it was found with with a stronger, more textured vintage one, added freshwater pearls and hung it asymmetrically. I also like that it is still functional - all you need to do is pull the cork (as below) and insert a small piece of fabric soaked with your favourite scent:

A necklace by any other name would smell as sweet!

This bracelet is made from a vintage faux turquoise brooch and is linked on vintage chain. One of the stones was missing around the center turquoise (oh no!), so I removed them all and (shockingly) replaced them with fresh water pearls. Now I think it looks a bit like a weird cake with a bird's egg in the middle.

So what do you think? I always love to hear what you think of my pieces, so any feedback you may have will be welcomed with open arms, and maybe even a cheeky kiss!

Also, I wrote an article on vintage satchels for the Queens of Vintage last week, which you can read here if you fancy it. Not only that, but Handm@de Winchester kindly posted a "Meet the Maker" interview with me on their blog, which you can read right here. There really are so many lovely people in the blogosphere!

Well, now that Easter is over, it's back to normality. I hope you have a really good week! I'm now going to watch Clueless and attempt to catch up on my (ever-expanding) blog reader.

Friday, 3 April 2009

I myself am especially happy this Friday because the lovely and incredibly stylish Marian Kihogo has been kind enough to feature Swell Vintage on her blog!

(Photo courtesy of http://www.mariankihogo.blogspot.com/) If you haven't read Marian's blog before, I highly recommend it. It's full of gorgeous fashion finds, and also covers her very exciting life as a stylist. Not only that, but she's probably one of the sweetest people in the blogging world!